An all-zero blocks early detection method for high-efficiency video coding

The High Efficiency Video Coding has a significant compression performance benefit versus previous standards. Thanks to the high efficiency prediction tools, blocks with all-zero quantized transform coefficients are quite common in HEVC. The computation load of transform and quantization can be remarkably reduced if the all-zero blocks can be detected prior to transform and quantization. Based on the theoretical analysis of the integer transform and quantization process in HEVC, we propose some SAD thresholds under which all-zero block can be detected. Simulation results show that with our proposed method, nearly 37% time saving for computation time of transform and quantization can be saved.